Device for cracking open and separating an egg

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a device for cracking open an egg wherein the device grips said egg, penetrates the shell of said egg, and opens the shell of the egg to release the contents therein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of kitchen utensils. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to an improved method forcracking open an egg to obtain the contents therein and for separatingthe yolk of the egg from the white. The invention further relates to adevice for carrying out said method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is sometimes difficult and messy to crack open and egg, and,moreover, to separate the yolk of the egg from the white. Variousegg-separating devices are known in the art that facilitate performanceof this task including, U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,573 to Romero, U.S. Pat. No.4,665,813 to Maisonneuve, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,508 to Banks et al.

None of the egg-crackers currently available satisfactorily perform thejob of cracking open and separating an egg. A device for cracking openan egg should make said task easier to perform, not harder. Instead,many devices cause the yolk to break, are messy, and are awkward for theuser to handle.

The present invention relates to a device for cracking open an egg thatis both simple to use and reliable. The device of the present inventionemploys a three-stage process, comprising gripping the egg, cracking theshell of the egg, and separating the shell of the egg so that thecontents inside fall into a receiving vessel. The receiving vessel maybe any container employed by the user to receive the contents of theegg. Alternatively, the device has a removable cup adapted in size andshape for receiving the yolk of the egg while the white falls to areceiving vessel positioned underneath the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for cracking open and egg toobtain the contents therein and for separating the egg yolk from thewhite (if desired) and to a device for use in carrying out said method.The device is adapted for cracking open an egg in three simple steps,leading to mess-free, and convenient opening of an egg without pieces ofthe shell remaining in the white or the yolk and without breakage of theyolk. The device is suitable for eggs of all different sizes. It willbecome evident from the description provided that the present inventionprovides an egg-cracking device far superior to those already known inthe art both in its simplicity of use and in its efficiency.

The present invention relates to a method for cracking open an egg usinga device for cracking open and separating an egg, comprising,

(One) placing an egg into a predetermined position in said device;

(Two) gripping said egg (by said device);

(Three) penetrating the shell of said egg in a predetermined manner;

(Four) opening the shell of said egg so as to release the contentstherein;

According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, the methodfurther comprises the step of separating the yolk of the egg from thewhite of the egg.

Furthermore according to preferred embodiments of the present invention,the step of penetrating the shell of the egg is accomplished by twopiercing members positioned adjacent to one another.

Moreover according to preferred embodiments of the present invention,the step of opening of the shell occurs when said piercing members aremoved away from one another.

The present invention also relates to a device for cracking open an eggcomprising an upper handle and a lower handle for grasping and operatingthe device, holding means for holding an egg to be cracked in apredetermined position, and gripping, penetrating, and opening mechanismcoupled to the handles and the holding means, for gripping said egg, forpenetrating the shell of said egg, and for opening said shell so as torelease the inner contents of the egg. The gripping, penetrating, andopening mechanism comprises;

-   -   (One) a first arm and second arm, wherein the arms are movable        between a first position wherein the said arms are substantially        parallel to one another and a second position wherein the arms        are angled with respect to one another;    -   (Two) moving means for moving the first and second movable arms        from the first position to the second position, wherein the        moving means are actuated by the pushing together of the handles        by a user;    -   (Three) a first piercing member and second piercing member        protruding from the first and second movable arms, respectively,        the first and second piercing members being positioned adjacent        to another when the arms are in the first position, and the        piercing members moving apart from one another when the arms are        moved to the second position;

The piercing members are positioned at a location directly below theholding means such that when an egg is positioned inside said holdingmeans, the egg will be gripped, penetrated, and opened as the handlesare pushed together.

According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, the holdingmeans comprises a first ring and a second ring. The first and secondrings are attached, at their lower ends, to the first and second movablearms, respectively.

Moreover according to preferred embodiments of the present invention,the device further comprises a protruding element positioned at theproximal end of the lower handle for facilitating gripping of the egg bythe device.

Additionally according to preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, the device further comprises a cup positioned below theholding means for receiving the yolk of an egg following opening of theegg.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is now described, by way of example only, with referenceto the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side schematic view of a device for cracking open an egg,according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are partial frontal views of the device of thepresent invention, showing steps occurring in a method for cracking openand separating an egg, according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is appreciated that the detailed description provided is intendedonly to illustrate and elucidate certain preferred embodiments of thepresent invention. It is in no way meant to limit the scope of theinvention, as set out in the claims.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the device of the present invention includesan upper handle (10) and a lower handle (11) for allowing gripping foroperation of the device. The distal regions (13) (14) of the handles aredesigned to be gripped and pushed together by the user. The width of thelower handle (11) has a longitudinal depression (indicated by dottedline 12) on the upper surface thereof for receiving the upper handle(10) when said handles are pushed together. The proximal end (90) of theupper handle (10) is positioned inside the end region of saidlongitudinal depression and moves in the upward direction when thehandles are pushed together by a user. The handles (10) (11) arepivotally connected to one another by pivot mechanism (15).

The proximal end (90) of the upper handle (10) is connected to agripping, penetrating, and opening mechanism (53) via a screw mechanism(70). The central portion of the gripping, penetrating, and openingmechanism (53) contains a main screw (19), a screw housing (17), aprotruding element (20), and a catch element (18). The catch element isengaged around the main screw (19) and prevents movement of said mainscrew (19) during penetrating, and opening of an egg. When the handlesare gripped and pushed together by a user, the proximal end (90) of theupper handle (10) is raised, thereby causing the screw housing (17) tobe raised in a corresponding manner. The mechanism (53) further includesa first arm (77) attached on one side of the bottom portion of the screwhousing (17) and a second arm (not seen in FIG. 1) attached on the otherside of the bottom of the screw housing. The arms preferably have acurved design, as shown in the illustration. Said arms are attached tothe screw housing (17) in an outwardly rotatable manner that allows thearms to move from their initial, parallel alignment with respect to oneanother (“first position”), to an angled alignment (“second position”),as to be described further.

The lower portion of each arm contains an upwardly extending piercingmember (25 a) (25 b). When the arms are in parallel alignment with oneanother, the piercing members are adjacent to one another and functionto penetrate the shell of the egg in a manner to be described. When thearms are rotated outwardly, the piercing members move away from oneanother. This causes opening of the egg.

A first ring (23) and a juxtapositioned second ring (not seen in FIG. 1)are connected to the gripping, penetrating, and opening mechanism (53)and serve to hold an egg to be cracked in a predetermined position. Therings are preferably comprised of flexible material so as to accommodateeggs of varying sizes. The rings may be attached to the gripping,penetrating, and opening mechanism (53) at any location on the arms. Asan example, in FIG. 1, ring (23) is attached to the vertically-extendingsection of arm (77). In other embodiments, said ring (23) may beattached to the lower, horizontally extending section of the arm (77).When the arms are rotated outwardly from the first position to thesecond position, the rings rotate in a corresponding manner to cause therelease of the inner contents of the egg.

The device further comprises a protruding element (20) that protrudesfrom the lower surface of the proximal end of the lower handle (11).Said protruding element is coupled to the catch element (18) by aflexible member (21). When the handles are pushed together such that theprotruding element (20) is brought in contact with the egg, the eggforces the protruding element (20) to shift position in the upwarddirection. The protruding element (20) then presses against the flexiblemember (21), thereby causing the catch element (18) to switch from aninitial horizontal position to a diagonal position, and preventingmovement of the main screw (19).

In some preferred embodiments, the device also comprises a cup (79) thatis positioned below the arms and the rings. The cup (79) is preferablyremovably connected to the screw housing (17) at a portion of said screwhousing that extends in the downward direction between the two arms.Said cup (79) is attached by any appropriate means, such as attachmentmember (75). The screw housing has an opening for receiving the endportion of said attachment member. The cup (79) is preferably used whenthe yolk of the egg needs to be separated from the white. In this case,following opening of the shell of the egg, the egg yolk falls into thecup while the egg white falls into a receiving vessel positioned belowthe device by the user.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C show partial frontal views of the device of Figure,from the vantage point of arrow (A) of FIG. 1, with some componentseliminated from the device for the purposes of clarity so as to enableexplanation of the gripping, penetrating, and opening mechanism of thedevice. In particular it should be noted that the ring member and thescrew housing are not shown in these Figures. The first arm (77 a) andthe second arm (77 b) can be viewed along with the first piercing member(25 a) and the second piercing member (25 b) positioned at the lowerportion of the arms (77 a) (77 b). In the embodiment shown, the arms (77a) (77 b) are connected to one another by a connecting member (30). Themain screw (19) of the gripping, penetrating, and opening mechanism canalso be seen. The main screw (19) is positioned inside a toothed comb(81) that facilitates movement of the arms. The main screw (19) iscoupled to the toothed comb (81) via a first spring (55). Duringoperation of the device, upward movement of the screw housing (17)results in the downward force of the main screw (19) onto the firstspring (55), so as to cause said spring (55) to change from asubstantially expanded position (FIG. 2A) to a substantially compressedposition (FIG. 2B). At the upper end of each arm (77 a) (77 b) is atoothed surface (85) that, along with a second spring (50) connectedbetween the connecting member (30) and the toothed comb (81),facilitates outward rotation of the arms (77 a) (77 b).

Reference will now be made to FIG. 1 in combination with FIGS. 2A, 2B,and 2C, and to a method for cracking open and separating an egg. Duringoperation of the device of the present invention, the user first placesan egg to be cracked into position inside the two ring members. Eachring member is engaged around one end of the egg, leaving the centralportion of the egg free for allowing penetration of the egg shell. Whenthus positioned, the egg is located directly above the piercing members(25 a) (25 b). Only one motion of pushing together the handles (10) (11)of the device is needed for completing cracking open and separating ofan egg. However, since three events take place during this one motion,these three events will be described separately.

The first step that takes place when the user pushes the handles (10)(11) together is that all the components of the gripping, penetrating,and opening mechanism (53) move in the upward direction, with theexception of the catch element (18), which is prevented from moving dueto openings on either side of the proximal end (91) of the lower handle(11) that engage said catch element (18). The main screw (19) as well asthe screw housing (17) move upward through an opening (26) in theproximal region of the lower handle (11). This movement stops when theegg contacts the protruding element (20) located at the lower surface ofproximal end (91) of the lower handle (11). When this happens, the forceof the egg causes the protruding element (20) to shift upward slightly,which in turn causes the catch element (18) to move from its initialhorizontal position to a diagonal position. Since the catch element (18)is engaged around the main screw (19), the diagonal repositioning of thecatch element (18) prevents further movement of the main screw (19). Atthis stage, the egg has become gripped by the device. At this time, thecomponents of the gripping, penetrating, and opening mechanism are inthe configuration shown in FIG. 2A.

In the next stage, the screw housing (17) (as well as the arms and therings, but not the main screw) continues to move in the upward direction(for a distance of about 3 mm, depending on the size of the spring (55)used), thereby causing the piercing members (25 a) (25 b) to penetratethe bottom of the shell of the egg. During this step, the upwardmovement of the screw housing (see arrow B of FIG. 2B) results in thecompression of first spring (55) due to the force of the main screw (19)on said spring (see FIG. 2B). After the spring (55) is maximallycompressed, the screw housing (17) cannot move upward anymore.

In the final stage, continued pressing together of the handles (10) (11)causes upward movement of the toothed surfaces (85) of the arms alongthe toothed comb (55). This movement results in the outward rotation(from the first position to the second position) of the arms (77 a) (77b). FIG. 2C illustrates the arms in the second position. The piercingmembers (25 a) (25 b) separate from one another, causing opening of theegg and the release of the inner contents of the egg. When the cup (25)is in place, the yolk of the egg falls into the cup while the whitefalls into another receiving vessel positioned under the device by auser. Without the cup, the yolk and the white fall into the samereceiving vessel.

1. A device for cracking open an egg comprising handles for grasping andoperating said device, holding means for holding an egg to be cracked ina predetermined position, and gripping, penetrating, and openingmechanism coupled to said handles and said holding means, for grippingsaid egg, for penetrating the shell of said egg, and for opening saidshell so as to release the inner contents of the egg, wherein saidgripping, penetrating, and opening mechanism comprises; (a) a protrudingelement coupled to a catch element for switching the position of thecatch element when the protruding element is brought in contact with theegg, thereby accomplishing a first stage of operation and preventingfurther movement of a main screw; (b) a spring configured to becompressed against the main screw which has become immovable in thefirst stage, the spring's size determines a distance of movement of apair of arms having piercing members, thereby causing the piercingmembers to penetrate the bottom of the shell of the egg in a secondstage of operation; said arms are configured to rotate outwardly and toseparate the piercing members from one another thereby causing openingthe egg in a final stage of operation.
 2. A device according to claim 1,wherein the holding means comprises a first ring and a second ring,wherein said first and second rings are attached, at their lower ends,to said first and second movable arms, respectively.
 3. A deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising a cup positioned below saidholding means for receiving the yolk of an egg following opening of saidegg.